Hone-All Precision Ltd

As a business, we will naturally assume there is a requirement of concentricity or equal wall thickness unless we are told otherwise, for example, if the application is simply for fluid flow

You could argue that we are over-engineering the machining and this is at the expense of our competitiveness within the industry. However, we believe in giving the customer the very best that can be achieved and ensuring that they do not encounter any unexpected issues further down the production process.

We explain the processes we are quoting within the descriptive text on our quotes. However, all too often, the price is the first and only thing which is reviewed.

Our plea to our customers and anyone reading our guide to the costs of honing & deep hole boring, is to consider some or all of the aspects we have included above, and when mapping out the process and selecting a supplier for your deep hole drilling or deep hole boring process, double check exactly what you are being quoted for. Ask yourself what is being included and if / how this will benefit your next process. Please also consider the overall quality of the components being machined.

Hone-All Precision has gained extensive knowledge and an excellent reputation over the years. Our skilled engineers use the latest technology to ensure outstanding attention to detail.

In some commercial activities, cost is everything due to restraints placed upon us by the OEM. However, in other cases, a little more time spent at the beginning of the process can save endless hours of re-work, corrective machining or even replacement material further down the line. This type of work not only increases costs dramatically but all too often results in a late delivery, as well as a service failure which lingers in the mind of the end-customer long after the memory of saving a few pounds at the start of the project.

Manufacturers in all sectors are under intense pressure to deliver quick results on tight budgets. Your customers expect a fast turnaround and a competitive rate, which you have to achieve with the minimum resources available. It is natural, therefore, to look for areas where economies can be made on the manufacturing process. Industrial rollers are a common target for these cost saving exercises, with the risk that low price is prioritised over quality.

Unfortunately there are serious risks to choosing cheaper grade rollers. It is frequently a false economy to cut corners on quality, as a deficient roller can compromise the whole application or require replacement much sooner than a higher precision product. Some suppliers may give you an extremely low quote while also promising you the earth in terms of results. In our experience of the industry this is a difficult pledge to make, and it invariably ends in tears for both parties.

Problems Caused By Low Quality Rollers

What are the real differences between a high quality roller and a lower quality product?

The answer is that a high quality roller is perfectly balanced, ensuring that under stress or a high RPM, there is no vibration produced by the process. This not only ensures the quality of the product but also extends the life of the roller and the associated machine as there is minimal wear due to smooth running.

An unbalanced roller produces additional vibration and heat over time, reducing the efficiency of the application and increasing the risk of component failure. As with all products with a short working life, you end up paying more in repairs and replacements than you would by investing in a high quality product in the first place.

Not all suppliers apply the strict Aerospace Industry standards to their work unless it is required, whereas we follow EN 9100 procedures for all components irrespective of sector. This effectively eliminates the risk of product defects causing you problems down the line.

Quality Or Price: Do You Have To Choose?

Quality versus price does not have to be a compromise. At Hone-All we find that the solution comes through honest and open communication. We are transparent about our work and will be upfront about your likely project costs. This being said, our goal is to help you achieve the maximum possible value within your budget. So, based on an assessment of your needs, we will suggest solutions that come in at the lowest achievable cost, bearing in mind your quality requirements and delivery schedule.

Precision Skill

Deep hole drilling is one of the most ancient arts in human civilisation. The Chinese were using bamboo drills to create oil wells at least 1,700 years ago, and the Ancient Egyptians used drills in the construction of the pyramids, 3,000 years before that.

Evidence shows that precision boring and honing underpin almost every technological advancement, from building temples to constructing spacecraft. Yet – surprisingly – this skill is rare in the modern world.

The ability to create a hole of exact dimension and diameter is not something that is routinely taught. This means that it is a much needed, but very unusual skill. Because of this, companies such as Hone All invest heavily to train new practitioners, and to keep developing the expertise. Some of the cost of this valuable training is reflected in the quote.

Long-Term Planning

Everybody needs a sound organisational plan. One of the things that we do at Hone All is ensure that our machines are regularly serviced to the highest standard, which means that we don’t have unexpected delays due to breakdowns.

We also invest in machines with formidable credentials. This means that we plan for quality, ensuring that clients do not reappear in the workshop a few weeks down the line with a broken part.

This type of planning is helpful for rigorous supply chain management. However, it is also crucial for sectors where quality matters. These include aerospace, oil and gas, and medicine. In industries where parts have a pre-guaranteed lifespan, being able to offer detailed time-conscious quality assurance saves numerous headaches. This type of precision can cost a little more, but the quality quickly leads to savings in the long-term.

Honest Pricing

What does this really mean? Honest pricing takes into account everything from the cost of training apprentices to the variable prices of high-quality metal. Honest companies will be transparent about this.

Often, jobs can be completed with budget cuts. This works some of the time. However, it can go horribly wrong. Knowledge of metals, their behaviours, and their response under different types of stress is insider knowledge that can make a real difference in core industries.

Investing In Quality

When you work with Hone All, you’re buying into a commitment to quality, expertise, and skill. If you’d like to discuss your requirements with us, we’ll be happy to give you an honest, open, transparent price. Simply get in touch by contacting us by phone, email, or via our online instant text portal.

Think packaging is easy? Think again! There are multiple hurdles to navigate, and one of these is quality. At any stage of a project, quality matters. Sometimes it only matters slightly, and sometimes it matters a lot. A 0.001 mm difference in a deep hole volume might mean nothing on a pushbike but might result in catastrophe for a plane.

For example, if your business is printing, having an ineffective roller is the equivalent of having a vehicle without a wheel. Here are some of the problems that low-quality rollers can cause, and how you can avoid them.

1. Ghosting

Ghosting is when an image appears unexpectedly and unnecessarily. Ghosts can either be due to low ink quality (a ‘chemical’ ghost), or a bad roller (a ‘mechanical’ ghost). A combination of low quality ink and a bad roller results in a big mess.

Even with the best ink, a poorly honed roller will cause mechanical ghosting. This results in profit reduction, loss of time, and lowered productivity.

To avoid this catalogue of problems, precision engineering of the roller is vital. Maintenance can avoid plate wear, and accurate roller settings can prevent uneven distribution. Ask your manufacturer about the ideal mechanical settings for your roller.

2. The Wrong Roller

In a precision engineering industry, this one should be obvious. However, the majority of roller problems are caused by bad technical drawings.

Precision boring and honing is an art that requires pin-point accuracy. Printing presses require equal levels of accuracy. This is a demand that has increased incrementally as HD print quality and substrate variance has continued to raise the bar for the new ‘norm’ in visual perfection.

In the case of print rollers, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer. They are bespoke products that need to be engineered to individual specifications. Don’t order the wrong roller. Bring your technical drawings to us, and let us take a look.

3. False Economy

Applying economic rules to something like a print roller can be a challenge.

The main areas of quantification are time, productivity, and reliability. A quality print roller is likely to increase all of these. However, the real benefit is in predictability. Knowing that a print run can be finished on time and to a guaranteed standard, and knowing that new ideas can be tried and launched within predictable windows, can make a lot of difference.

This means that investing in a quality product can offer predictable, long-term, quantifiable returns. Opting for a short-term saving can easily end up costing more. Asking about prices (with the right technical drawings!) might result in a surprisingly wallet-friendly long-term outcome.

4. Cost Effective Precision Rollers

When it comes to print rollers, it pays to do the homework. Getting it right now can guarantee quality in the future.

At Hone All, we’ve got decades of experience in the precision engineering of rollers, and we’re one of the only companies in the UK that has invested in the right machines to make them. If you’re interested in learning more, we’re here to talk. You can call us on 

0845 5555 111 or use the chat bubble to speak to an expert online.

The Wonky Clock

When you’ve been working with a machine for a long time, it’s easy to let its quirks become part of the normal pattern of life. A bit like mentally adjusting for a clock that always runs five minutes slow, it is straightforward to forgive a machine or part for having a few oddities.

When you and your supplier have a long-standing relationship, these quirks are often understood. There’s no need to write things down on paper. At least, not until a new engineer arrives, or a new buyer enters the picture.

Without a clear paper trail, valuable knowledge can easily become lost. Keeping accurate, up-to-date drawings can easily ensure that this knowledge is safely preserved.

Pinpoint Accuracy

One-size-fits-all solutions can be good, but they are rarely a perfect match for a precision job. Detailed technical drawings can avoid holes that are honed a point of a millimetre too wide, or a point of a millimetre too narrow.

This detail is important for several reasons. Metals can expand and contract under stress, and have different characteristics of fatigue. The correct dimensions and depth mean that elements such as fatigue can be more precisely predicted. These calculations rely upon technical drawings with pinpoint accuracy.

Getting The Full Picture

Accurate drawings are a two-way means of communication. They allow you to tell the engineer what you want, and they also give the engineer a chance to offer feedback.

After all, people who have spent decades looking at technical drawings tend to develop quite accurate hunches for what works and what doesn’t. Today’s software capabilities also mean that plans can often be digitally visualised in advance.

Although analogue skills are still important in the world of honing and boring, digital visualisation is valuable, and relies upon precise information. Accurate drawings are therefore a crucial point of communication. This can boost productivity by saving time, and reducing the risk of errors.

Saving Time & Money

Sometimes in life, it’s the little things that matter. When it comes to precision engineering, those little things are often accurate drawings.

If you want to make sure that your drawings are accurate, we can help. Whether it’s a bespoke build, a precision part, or on-going maintenance, we’re ready to chat about it. You can get in touch by calling 

0845 5555 111 or you can use our new instant chat service which will connect you with an expert in moments.

It’s been a busy 6 months here at Hone-All with a whole host of fantastic developments.
 
We’ve been adding to our capacity with new CNC lathes, adding to our team with our hugely successful adult apprentice recruitment drive and improving our services with more updates to our software and processes.         

This has culminated in higher levels of customer satisfaction through improvements in our on-time delivery and quality and the technical guides and news we’ve been releasing has resulted in a lot more engagement with customers, new and old.
 
We’re thrilled at the changes we’re making and with more improvements in the pipeline, we are looking forward to the next developments and working alongside you to ensure you can share in our success.
 
Please take a minute or two and browse our recent articles and discover some great industry news and don't forget to regularly head over to our blog on our website to catch up on all our articles and news as they happen! And if you have any questions relating to any of the articles or would like to know more, don’t hesitate to give me a call or drop me a line at andrea@hone-all.co.uk.
 
Thanks for all your business and support as always,
 
Andrea

A few months ago, we had one of those e-mails. The ones we often tend to bypass to get to the e-mails from customers or contacts but this one peaked my interest.

The e-mail was talking about CCL relief and how so many companies are exempt but never apply for the relief they are entitled to.

After lots of searching and research, we came to a dead end as there seemed to be so many differing opinions on classifications and acceptance criteria because, as like most things published by the Government or HMRC, the language was impossible.

I telephoned a few of my contacts and business networks to ask their opinion and they were either unsure or themselves too, were only just starting to research eligibility.

Due to business demands, it slowly dropped down my long list of priorities and became one of those jobs “I’ll do when I get chance” or more honestly, one of those jobs “I’ll do when I feel stronger and may be able to navigate my way through the complexity”.

Then by chance, another e-mail came in offering a free, no-obligation analysis as to our eligibility and so we contacted the company.

Within two months, we have started to receive refunds for the CCL paid and my future exemption is guaranteed – well, until the rules change again anyway!

So What Is The Scheme?

From 1 April 2014, taxable commodities used in mineralogical or metallurgical processes are exempt from the main rates of climate change levy. The exemptions ensure the UK tax treatment of highly energy intensive processes is in line with tax treatments elsewhere in the EU, thereby reducing any distortion of competition.

Mineralogical processes are defined in legislation by reference to the Energy Taxation Directive whereas metallurgical processes are defined by reference to NACE codes (an internationally recognised system for classifying economic activity).

Mineralogical and metallurgical processes is quite a tongue twister. Simply put, if your energy consumption is related to any of the below fields you may just be eligible – not only for refunds since April 2014 but also for exemption moving forward helping you to reduce the increasing burden of rising energy costs!

• Glass
• Ceramic
• Concrete
• Brick
• Tile
• Clay
• Cement
• Stone Cutting
• Metal Production
• Metal Casting
• Forging
• Pressing
• Stamping
• Rolling
• Metal Powders
• Galvanising
• Coating Metals

How Does It Work?

As a result of our eligibility, due to being directly involved in the manufacture of tubes, we supplied all of the relevant detail regarding our past suppliers for both electricity and gas for the past 5 years.

This enabled an analysis of the estimated annual consumption of our energy usage rated against the Climate Change Levy charges per kWh.

The results gave us an estimated savings figure to work with and allowed the supplier to draw up the necessary forms with HMRC and our historic and current utility suppliers since April 2014.

Energy companies have an obligation to backdate the relief for (at least) 4 years from date of submission so this results in a substantial amount of relief against the energy.

Today, we have received our first refund which is in excess of £4,200 and this is from only one of our past suppliers who supplied electricity for two years.

As always, Hone-All try to be at the forefront of sharing best business practice and / or trying to assist with clearing the muddy waters of legislation in order to enable companies to receive any and all benefits or assistance available. Due to the speed and simplicity of working with this supplier, in conjunction with the numerous conversations held at past EEF meetings in relation to rising energy costs, we felt it only right to publish this blog in the hope that it may prompt you to investigate this for yourselves if you haven’t already.

A thorough list of the mineralogical and metallurgical processes that qualify for relief and exemptions can be found here.

Many of our customers and contacts are listed within these categories and so we implore you to take a moment, look at the list and see how much you can reclaim and save moving forward!

Good luck!

The Governments Industrial Strategy has been discussed and debated over recent months and as several have said, there are many great ideas but fewer specific commitments as to how and when these will be achieved.  

Missions, foundations and pillars are all emotive, descriptive terms but it’s how they translate these into direct action that we smaller businesses need to see and believe.

The Government’s commitment to achieve a level of R&D investment of 2.4% of GDP is admirable but nothing has been specified as to how they will achieve this target and what support will be given to businesses to maximise the benefits of this fantastic scheme.

Larger businesses are often in a better position to utilise the scheme to the maximum, often with in-house specialists who have the ability and expertise to dissect the rules and regulations to the fullest and then implement processes and procedures, or indeed bespoke programmes to ensure that investment in R&D is maximised but the cost to the company minimised.

Smaller businesses rarely have this in-house function and too many believe the scheme is not applicable or appropriate to their business due to the stringent rules and administrative burden it can create.

In our opinion, this stems from a complete lack of clarity from the Government about what and which activities constitute R&D. They have published numerous documents to assist but the lack of manufacturing support programmes and funding has meant that this tax credit is one benefit to manufacturing that is rarely utilised in smaller businesses.

Many are losing tens of thousands of pounds in tax credits they are entitled to for R&D they carry out on a daily basis. The problem is, they don’t realise it’s actually R&D and there’s no one out there to help educate them or demonstrate in practical terms exactly what constitutes activities they can claim for.

Alternatively, other companies (like us here at Hone-All), pay a specialist between 10 & 20% to assist us in our applications due to the complexity of the scheme, the ambiguity of the rules and a lack of clarity on what can and can’t be claimed for.

This is money we could, and should, be spending on our businesses as the scheme is there to improve our technology, our processes, improve the competitiveness and innovation of UK manufacturing and enable further investment and growth.

In An SME, What Constitutes R&D And What Can We Claim For?

Obviously, there are differing definitions due to the complexity of the guidelines but here at Hone-All, we want to promote all UK manufacturing and improve not only our own competitiveness and innovation but that of the entire industry so here are a few examples which you may recognise as an ongoing activity of your business.  

We hope that these may help you think a little differently about the scheme and, if nothing else, prompt a conversation with a specialist who may be able to assist you in claiming the tax credits you are fully entitled to.

Firstly, you can claim for two full years prior to your current year so you can apply retrospectively. This is a major incentive to find out more as the tax credits can be either repayable directly to you or can be offset against your corporation tax bill – both assisting cash flow and enabling further investment.

Secondly, you can claim for materials (tested to destruction), components, specialists who assisted in your project (e.g. electricians, consultants etc.), a proportion of the salaries paid to employees involved, and a proportion of your light and heating costs.

So How Does This Translate Into Reality?

Imagine, a customer comes to you and wants you to manufacture a part never made before and is beyond your current capability or that of your equipment. You hope this design or component can be manufactured and the parameters achieved with a little time, newly designed tooling, adaption of your machine or your processes or equipment.

The first stage is to design the tooling or adaptation you need to make – a percentage of the salary for this can be claimed for.

You purchase materials to manufacture the tooling but it takes two or three attempts to get the tooling to work correctly. The materials for the unsuccessful attempts can be claimed for. When you go to use the tooling, it’s not quite right so the first component is unacceptable – the material, the tooling used, and time spent on that component can be claimed for.

Alternatively, you need to adapt your machine but you are uncertain if it will work, but if it does work it will create an advancement in technology and/or capacity. The work done, parts bought, contractors brought in, engineers time – all can be claimed for!

The fact is, projects can be successful and unsuccessful. All you must demonstrate is that there was a technological uncertainty as to whether it could be achieved, you have innovated, you have engineered a method to achieve a technological advancement and even if it doesn’t work, a claim can still be made!

Within SME’s we are doing this sort of activity daily, whether it is redesigning/re-engineering a tool because tooling to cover the particular requirement doesn’t exist; adapting a machine to do something it couldn’t before; running off prototypes to prove a process as it’s something you’ve never done or you’re simply working to parameters you’ve never achieved before. Even something as simple as designing a brand new jig or fixture to clamp a difficult job can be claimed for.

Now ask yourself, how often are you or your engineers doing this on a daily/weekly basis? And what sort of costs are involved?

In theory, it’s a simple scheme and the Government have published a guide for SME’s which you can read here.

We believe this has gone some way to explaining the scheme but we hope our example here may illustrate some of the content of the guide into a more practical, common sense definition.

In practice, the application is a little more complex which is why here at Hone-All, we use an R&D specialist to assist with the final submission. However, the rest of the documenting of the costs, expenses and projects, we do ourselves.

We are willing to help and offer practical advice as we do for many customers and suppliers, many other companies are willing to help too but the Government must support us by publishing more practical case studies of successful R&D claims from within our sector. This may just open the hearts and minds of our SME’s and enable claims to be made for what most of us see as our everyday operations. The credits received would free up cash flow for further investment and increased R&D leads to continuous improvement and a positive cycle commences.

Simplifying the scheme and offering more targeted business support to those wishing to claim would probably achieve and exceed the Government’s target of 2.4% within a much faster time frame than the 2027 quoted.

Recruitment has changed so much over the years, mainly due to the massive skills gap our industry is facing but also the meteoric rise of recruitment agencies serving the sector.

Years ago, engineers would walk in off the street, ask for a position and if the right skills and attitude were present, they would start the next day. This regularly happened to us, and one will always stay in our memory.

We didn’t really have a position available but Roger, an older statesman within the local industry came to see us, he asked us for a chance as most companies were regarding him as too old at 60 and we kindly said to him “we can find you a few hours, will part time be ok?”

He joined our team the following Monday and never did less than a full-time week until the day he retired at 73 years old – the main reason being, his wife wanted to travel!

A similar scenario happened with our fantastic inspector Graham who “popped in on the off chance” despite being out of the industry for years, and being treated as too old, he had a great background with Rolls Royce and we hired him on the spot. He’s an invaluable member of our team and we are so grateful for the wealth of experience and patience he has brought to us.

These days, this occurrence is rare. But both gentlemen had been regarded as too old to hire by other companies. And both had considered or had already left the industry.

Opportunities For Young Adults

In comparison, you may have read in our previous blog about our young chap who applied after we posted on Facebook requesting anyone with a passion for engineering to get in touch. He had applied for over 50 jobs after doing two years at college and could not even get an interview. He couldn’t believe that we were not only willing to interview him, but happy to hire him with limited skill and experience and 6 months on, he’s quickly becoming a highly skilled CNC turner.

The other young man who applied at the same time from the same social media plea for people with a passion for engineering has mastered his skill and will soon be moving on to other departments due to the amazing mind he has for questioning and improving processes and machinery. Without us, he would have continued installing and building flat-pack furniture!

The lack of apprenticeships offered, in conjunction with the failure of the Government to assist and fund effective training in engineering and manufacturing over the last 20+ years, has had a significant impact on our struggle to recruit and fill vacancies. However, has the rise in HR departments and employment legislation contributed just as much?

Are HR departments afraid to take a risk hiring the older generation due to the retirement legislation? And yet it is these super skilled engineers who are usually delighted to train and mentor the younger or less experienced as they see it as their legacy to keep engineering and manufacturing alive.

Does the multitude of administrative requirements for new starters prevent the hiring of employees who could be considered “long shots”?

Could this be why we lost so many engineers the last decade or two and have struggled to attract the youth into our industry?

Has the role and targets set within HR taken away that ability to take a risk?

There may indeed be a shortage of skills within engineering and manufacturing but how much of this is due to our own attitude and approach to hiring?

The Changes We Are Making

Our new approach to recruitment has resulted in a total of 5 new trainee engineers joining us – two of which have been recommended by the two adult apprentices we took on through the social media post spoken about here.

Not only have these new additions added value to our manufacturing process and assisted us in meeting our highly demanding production targets due to increased customer demand, but their fresh perspective and lack of previous experience has actually empowered them to question how things are done and why and resulted in multiple process improvements and machinery enhancements.

We are still using recruitment agencies for certain roles but only a select few with whom we have built relationships over the years as we have found a few of the agencies who approach us will not work to a fair refund scale which simply raises the question as to their confidence in the quality of the candidates and our confidence in how long they will stay.

As much as we have had some success with some of our recruitment partners, in general, we have found that our retention rate of the team we have found, hired directly and trained internally is above 90% and over 50% of our team have been with us more than 15 years, four for more than 20 years and one for more than 30 years. Disappointingly, these figures drop dramatically with agency hired staff.

Passion, attitude and aptitude are skills which can rarely be taught whereas engineering and manufacturing skills can be taught with a little time, patience, understanding and support. Attract and invest in those who really want to learn, to work with you, to be a part of your team and are looking for a long-term career within an industry they love - irrelevant of age, skill level or qualifications.

Let’s attract new attitudes and fresh perspectives and although there may be an additional cost in the short term, the long term benefits to our businesses and industry will pay this back ten-fold.

Last month our director Andrea delivered a keynote speech to the National Manufacturing Debate hosted at Cranfield University. The event bought together professionals from several fields to discuss challenges facing the industry, in particular whether the government’s Industry Strategy goes far enough to support growth in UK manufacturing.

Deja Vu

This isn’t the first time the government has discussed an official strategy for manufacturing. In 

1999/2000

 Tony Blair’s Labour government entered into discussions with industry leaders about a potential Manufacturing Strategy that went on for about 18 months. Andrea was involved in these discussions through her involvement with EEDA and helped formulate a draft policy to support manufacturing businesses grow through the challenges of technological and economic change. Unfortunately nothing came of these efforts at the time.

All Sides Of The Debate

A diverse range of speakers examined the strengths and drawbacks of the Industry Strategy from different angles. A cross-section of opinions were represented, some being broadly supportive (if sceptical on some points) and others disagreeing with the need for a government led strategy at all. Andrea’s speech welcomed the initiative, but pointed out some important deficiencies when it comes to SMEs.

5 Foundations

The Industry Strategy is a 250 page document covering five foundations: Ideas, People, Infrastructure, Business Environment and Places. For those who weren’t at the event an outline of Andrea’s speech is given below. The main themes and arguments have been summarised, with quotes where appropriate:

Too Complex For SMEs

The main problem with the proposed Industry Strategy from a small business perspective is it seems aimed primarily at large industry players. The provisions are too complex and not broad enough for SMEs to take advantage of. Many proposals are couched in “grandiose terminology” without specific detail. And where solid policies are given, it is often a matter of action being “too little, too late”.

“The strategy includes many fabulous ambitions but to us, many are far removed from the daily activities of a small engineering business. And even if the strategy is successful, few benefits will be seen by the company directors of today. And the question is, will it still be supported or even in existence for the Directors of tomorrow with the ever changing political landscape?”

Foundation 1: Ideas

The first stated purpose of the strategy is to promote research and development to create ‘the world’s most innovative economy’.

This is underscored by a government commitment to achieve a level of R&D investment of 2.4% of GDP. However, the complexity of the grant application process means that many SMEs spend up to 20% of their tax credits on consultancies to assist with applications!

Many of the application rules and R&D parameters are unclear, wasting time and money that could directly be invested in training and innovation.

“If the Government clarified and simplified the rules and application process and SME’s were supported with R&D tax credit applications, the Government would achieve their target much more quickly. SME’s are doing R&D every single day, but most see it just as their day to day activities and don’t realise they can claim for a great percentage of the labour, materials and tooling they have used in the process”.

Foundation 2: People

We all recognise the skills shortage and the need for more investment in apprenticeships and training to bring on board the next generation of manufacturing professionals. Recruitment expenses are now higher for some SMEs than expenditure on machinery and tooling supplies because of low unemployment and high demand for technical skills.

So while the government’s renewed commitment to apprenticeships is welcome, this policy would have been more effective had it been introduced 20 or more years ago. The apprenticeship levy is also widely seen as yet another tax on small businesses, with a lot of ambiguity about its specific benefits. This has resulted in a reduction of new apprenticeships since the introduction of the levy.

A cornerstone of the strategy is tax free bursaries worth up to £26,000 to attract science graduates into teaching positions. This is to enable local colleges to expand their curriculum to cover more STEM courses. However, Andrea believes that qualified teachers aren’t the issue.

“Most colleges at present do not have the facilities or equipment to offer such a curriculum, and the strategy is unclear about where funding will come from to expand facilities. Additionally, nothing has been done to address the high cost of on-site training and development for existing employees, with much money being spent on fees and admin costs levied by training providers.”

Foundation 3: Infrastructure

The Industry Strategy claims to inaugurate a major upgrade of the UK’s manufacturing infrastructure. However, the policies in this section are worryingly lacking in detail. Others are token concessions. For instance, while the government’s commitment to superfast broadband is admirable, this comes several years too late. Domestic customers have had access to fast Internet for many years; it is scandalous that so many industrial estates still lack access to fibre-optic broadband.

The Strategy seeks to decentralise infrastructure planning by giving responsibility to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to determine strategies for their local area. This ignores the fact that many LEP’s have little connection with, nor understanding of the needs of local businesses.

“SMEs in many parts of the country struggle to find information about grant funding availability or business advice, especially since funding was cut for the Regional Development Agencies and the Manufacturing Advice Service.”

Foundation 4: Business Environment

The government’s efforts to encourage businesses to invest in up-to-date technology are hindered by consistent moves over the last few years to cancel business support services and funding initiatives. The practical services that remain are skewed towards research and development, rather than general growth and investment.

“We also need an economic and tax environment which promotes and rewards investment, not just in R&D! Reinstating 100% capital allowances would promote growth and improve productivity by enabling businesses to continually invest in the most recent technology. Growth in demand within this sector then enables the machine tool OEM’s to invest in manufacturing better equipment with higher performance and the positive cycle continues.”

Foundation 5: Places

The section of the document that aims to create ‘prosperous communities across the UK’ is again lacking in specific detail. What initiatives there are seem focused on easy gain areas, such as the high-tech industry in Cambridge, rather than dispersed across the country to benefit a broader cross-section of SMEs.

“The Industrial Strategy Commission said ‘An industrial strategy should not seek to do everything everywhere, but it should seek to do something for everywhere’. I simply can’t see this happening unless there is a distinct change in the role and accountability of the LEP’s.”

A Missed Opportunity

Andrea’s conclusion is that the proposed Industrial Strategy is a missed opportunity to genuinely decentralise responsibility and give opportunities to the manufacturing businesses that need it most. Instead, responsibility is being devolved to uninformed and unaccountable LEP’s, with no concrete policies in place to reduce the high cost of doing business in the UK.

“The Industry Strategy reads like a general mission statement, when what is needed is a business plan with practical guarantees of support – linked to clear financing and deliverable timeframes.”

The manufacturing sector in the UK isn’t known for its abundance of female employees. Look around a typical manufacturing business and the vast majority of workers from the ground floor to the boardroom are likely to be men. This is especially the case among company directors. Among the largest FTSE100 manufacturers, according to The Manufacturer magazine, only 23% of senior managers are women, while the number of women as a proportion of employees in the manufacturing sector overall – including small businesses – is even lower, at a paltry 15%.

The Manufacturing Skills Shortage

At the same time our largely male sector is hit by a long-term skills shortage in many trades. The answer seems obvious: get more women involved in the manufacturing sector at all levels. Fortunately the tide seems to be moving in the right direction. There are plenty of opportunities in the manufacturing sector and plenty of women ready to take up the challenge. The issue for the industry is partly one of image; where an all-male, macho atmosphere can be off-putting for women, and partly one of opportunity – the industry needs strong advocates to promote the benefits of a manufacturing career to young women.

At Hone All we are doubly lucky in having as a director Andrea Rodney, a highly skilled professional, a tireless advocate of greater opportunities for women in the manufacturing industry as well as a champion for changing the image of UK manufacturing in order to attract a wide range of talent from all ages and genders.

Her voluntary work over the last 20 years has included contributing towards skills strategy with EEDA, NSAM, SEMTA, the MTA and the SFA as well as engaging with local schools and colleges on a regular basis. She is also the EEF Regional Advisory Board Chair for the East of England.

A Voice For The Future

On 21st June 2018 Andrea will be hosting a discussion and joining the panel debate at the Women & Diversity in Manufacturing Summit in Liverpool, on the subject of solving the UK manufacturing skills shortage. The summit is an opportunity for industry role models, entrepreneurs, mentors and senior engineers from across the manufacturing industry to share strategies for greater female involvement in the sector. This is a conversation our industry badly needs to have, and will discuss leadership, career opportunities, vocational training, the role of HR and attractive academic pathways for young women just leaving school and university.

EEF: The Manufacturers' Organisation is a representative organisation of over 5,000 UK manufacturing companies. It is an outspoken voice for British manufacturing businesses in the UK and Europe and we are proud to be part of it. Why does the EEF matter and what does it do? In this article we provide a brief overview so you can find out more.

Formerly known by its full name, the Engineering Employers Federation, the EEF is one of the UK’s longest running professional organisations, being founded over 120 years ago. It regularly attracts acclaim for its member benefits and effective impact on the industry. For instance, the EEF was recently declared winner of the Best National Association Award at the European Association Awards 2018.

Core Activities

Among the EEF’s many activities are the following core goals. The organisation…

• Encourages the sharing of best practices and insights among industry leaders, policymakers, professional engineers, apprentices and entrepreneurs.
• Represents the manufacturing sector in a constructive dialogue with regulatory bodies and political decision-makers at the national and local level.
• Provides consultancy, advice and training support to members – to improve processes, boost training standards and increase productivity.
• Establishes industry standards for workplace safety and trust between businesses.
• Works with colleges, schools and universities to increase the variety and accessibility of engineering training for young people, from primary school to graduate level.
• Celebrates the achievements of manufacturing and engineering businesses, presenting a positive and upbeat image of our sector to the media.
• Supports businesses to apply HR and employment law, environmental compliance and H&S obligations to their unique business models.
• Facilitates innovation in the sector through knowledge sharing, seminars, training courses and events.

EEF Knowledge & Technology Hub

The jewel in the EEF’s crown has to be the new Technology Training Centre in Aston, near Birmingham. The state-of-the-art centre acts as the knowledge and technology hub for the whole organisation, offering a wide range of apprenticeships and professional courses for engineers at all levels.

The centre boasts 75,000 ft.² of lecture halls, meeting areas, workshops and student facilities and is still under development. Since 2014 £11 million has been spent on the Training Centre to make it the UKs premier technology training college.

Courses cover the full spectrum of UK manufacturing, including:

• Computer aided design (CAD)
• ‘Industry 4.0’ - the impact of Internet connectivity on different machines used in the manufacturing process
• Robotics and AI
• Motors and control systems
• Milling, grinding and turning
• Tool design and use
• Pneumatic and hydraulic power systems
• Electrical engineering
• CNC operation
• Management and leadership
• Software

You can take a virtual tour of the EEF Technology hub by clicking here, courtesy of Google Maps Street View – another example of technology in action!

Upcoming Events

The EEF puts on national and local events, seminars and conferences throughout the year. These are eclectic in scope and subject matter. Upcoming seminars cover bid writing, cyber security, business diversification and supplier engagement. These are supported by local networking events and regional dinners to bring businesses, training organisations and suppliers together.

How EEF Supports Hone-All

We joined the EEF originally for the excellent HR services they provide, and they have counselled and assisted us tremendously in this respect. Their support in the implementation of our H&S system was fantastic and it has been hailed as one of the best by our local HSE.

Only by becoming a member did we then learn of all the other fantastic activities and services EEF provide and are involved in. I was then selected to be Chair of the Eastern Regional Advisory Board. This resulted in further opportunities to input into EEF’s lobbying and policy and also network and share experiences with other businesses of all sizes. What surprised me most was the willingness of the EEF to listen to the perspective and needs of smaller businesses and then act upon them – something I hadn’t experienced with other trade bodies I had been involved in. This is testament to their commitment to supporting the industry as a whole - not just the OEM’s or large multi-nationals.

An article in the Telegraph from March (2018) reported that the rate of growth in the manufacturing sector had slowed to its lowest rate since late 2016. This apparently counteracts reports published in late 2017 and early 2018, predicting continued unprecedented growth for the manufacturing sector throughout the year.

So, is last year’s market upturn over, or have we got more growth to look forward to? Let’s look more at these figures and see what they say.

An Upward Trend

At the beginning of 2018 it was commonly accepted that the manufacturing sector was at its strongest for 10 years, with a growth rate that hadn’t been seen for 30 years. It could even be argued that the manufacturing sector was carrying the UK economy as a whole, outstripping all other industries in growth and more than compensating for the chaos in the construction sector following the Carillion insolvency last summer.

How The Sector Is Measured

The slowdown in growth does nothing to disprove that. Manufacturing growth is measured on a scale of 0 to 100, where a score of 50 or above indicates growth, lower than this meaning contraction. For practicality’s sake, all the action takes place in the score region between 45 and 60. The figures show that the manufacturing sector has been on an upward trend since the beginning of 2013, when it leapt from a score of 48 (modest contraction) to 58.5 (good growth) in six months. These highs weren’t seen again until November 2017, but growth has been consistently high throughout the period. Except for a very brief dip in mid-2016, figures haven’t dropped below 50 for more than five years. The manufacturing sector is still growing; these upwards and downwards fluctuations are just business as usual. The current score is still higher than the equivalent Q1 figures for 2017, 2016 and 2015.

The chart below, taken from the same Telegraph article, shows these fluctuations clearly. We really don’t have anything to worry about.

Glass Half Full or Empty?

You won’t have to look far to find a gloomy slant on economic patterns, but how much of this is a tendency to see the glass as half empty?

These figures are all taken from the Financial Times, never known for its optimistic take on current events.

• In Q1 2018, the UK’s GDP grew by 0.1%, a 2.3% change since Q1 2017.
• GDP growth per head is its highest since Q1 2008. The economy has consistently outstripped pre-recession levels since Q1 2015.
• Overall economic growth in 2018 is predicted to be 1.6%, down from 2017’s 2%, but this can be explained by rising inflation and the Carillion crisis.
• Sterling is at its strongest position against the dollar and euro since 2016.
• Unemployment stands at only 4.2%, an historic low that continues a downward trend since January 2013.

However you cut it, these figures represent real growth; year on year, quarter on quarter.

How Does All This Tie In With Manufacturing?

The downturn in manufacturing growth since its peak in November 2017 has been linked to a failure of suppliers to keep pace with demand – not a bad problem to have. It brings us back to the interlinked conundrums of productivity and skills. Both are resolvable. New investment, intelligent processes, automation and faster technologies are actively lifting productivity from its reportedly sluggish current levels. In the meantime, a raft of new apprenticeship opportunities and training schemes, supported by small businesses throughout the country, are filling the skills shortage by providing openings for people into engineering careers – just like we did with our Adult Apprentice positions which have been massively successful so far.

As a nation we all too often “talk ourselves down” and this is rife within engineering and manufacturing but based on these figures, the continuing rise in oil prices and the positivity surrounding demand right now (even with the capacity challenges this often brings), it’s time we shouted a little louder and highlight the lengths and strengths we are going to for the benefit of our industry and the UK economy as a whole.

The summer has just begun in the UK and there is every reason to think it will be a bright one for the British manufacturing sector.

We are not always uncritical supporters of government policy, but the decision to make 2018 a ‘Year of Engineering’ has, in our opinion, been a positive one so far. Officially endorsed ‘Years of So-and-So’ all too often fall short of their promise. Many are simply vanity projects sponsored by lobby groups or government departments and have very little impact on the sector as a whole.

Space Mania

The Year Of Engineering could have had a similar outcome. It was an initiative of the UK Space Agency sparked by public interest surrounding British Astronaut Tim Peake’s Principia mission at the International Space Station (ISS) in 2017. Peake played an important but relatively minor role in the ISS team, alongside astronauts from the USA, Russia and other countries, but the impact on engagement for young people at home was very important.

Inspiring Children

Across the UK, 10,000 schools engaged in special projects related to the mission, focusing not just on space but also on food technology, computer programming and engineering. An estimated 1.6 million young people were exposed to areas of relevance to the manufacturing and engineering sectors.

This is important when you consider that among these children are the next generation of engineers, entrepreneurs and technicians – the people who will be paying our pensions when we retire! Practical scientific and engineering subjects are frequently underrepresented in the school curriculum, something which has been recognised as feeding directly into our current skills shortage. The lack of knowledge, and consequently support, from careers teachers exacerbates this problem.

Tackling The Skills Shortage Head On

To address the skills shortage we need more young people choosing to enter the engineering and manufacturing sector; and for this we need to engage the imagination from a young age. High profile public figures like Tim Peake play a role in this, but the efforts must be broader and sustained to be effective.

The Year of Engineering is a good start: a UK wide campaign to increase knowledge of engineering among 7 to 16-year-olds, and to equip schools, parents and teachers to provide educational opportunities for kids that show an interest in an engineering career.

£210,000 of public funding was made available to seven new initiatives. Some of these lean heavily towards the environmental sciences, such as the Monitoring the Environment, Learning for Tomorrow (MELT) programme, but all STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics) disciplines are represented to some extent. The funding was a welcome contribution but at that level, minimal activities can be undertaken.

Where We Stand

The Year of Engineering ties in nicely with the work we already do here at Hone-All with our local schools and colleges. Small businesses in the sector have long recognised that while engaging primary and secondary school kids in engineering subjects is important, the real difference comes from making the right apprenticeships and college courses available. Without these practical opportunities, our space-mad kids are going to end up in other sectors when they leave school, and our time and effort engaging them will be wasted. It is also really important to continue breaking down the gender bias in engineering, by encouraging more young women to take up career opportunities in the sector.

Beyond Space

Most engineering graduates won’t end up working in the space sector, but many of the processes and technologies that send rovers to Mars also have practical applications closer to home. Initiatives such as The Year of Engineering seek to combine imagination and opportunity, which is no bad thing. Engineering suffers from a dull image problem that the glamour of sustainable tech and space travel can go a long way to address – but there is also a lack of grassroots training in core skills.

Solutions to this won’t always come from central government. It is the efforts of all businesses, small and large, working with local schools and colleges, taking on apprentices and employing local graduates that will provide a lasting legacy for the Year of Engineering. A collaborative and sustained approach between Government, businesses & manufacturing bodies is the only way to address our skills shortages in the longer term.

We’re thrilled to announce our recent investment in a new Pinacho STH 

400 105x2000

mm heavy duty lathe which is due to arrive next week! The Pinacho STH series are market leading flatbed CNC lathes, providing a wide breadth of versatility and precision not offered by other models.

After reviewing many different CNC lathes available on the market, we chose the Pinacho for its capacity, high spindle speed and large diameter range, all delivered within a space-efficient footprint.

We purchased the machine through TW Ward CNC of Sheffield, who have so far provided excellent service and responsiveness – despite our requirements increasing as we learned more about what the machine could offer.

Materials

STH parallel lathes are recognised for their engineering quality. All components are cast and manufactured at the Pinacho foundry in Spain. The lathe features pearlitic cast iron castings, hardened ground beds, and gears, spindles and bearings made from F155 steel. The unit is CE compliant, with the enclosure engineered to all relevant EC safety and quality standards.

Specification

The features which made the Pinacho stand above the other machines are numerous and when you have a customer base in excess of 4000, all with differing requirements, selecting the most versatile machine is a must. These features include: -

• Swing over bed / carriage - 805 / 720 mm
  Centre distance - 2000 mm
  Spindle bore - 105 mm
• 2 speed geared headstock
• Fanuc control systems (see below)
• 12 station automatic hydraulic turret – this was an upgrade from the standard 8 station turret.
• Manual 3 jaw chuck + hard jaws
• Manual tail stock
• Swarf conveyor
• Fixed steady capacity 10-300 / 300 – 530 mm
• Travelling steady
• 50 mm boring bar with support
• 17 Kw main motor power
• Position accuracy and repeatability to within 0.01 mm
• Coolant equipment
• Automatic slide ways lubrication
• Tower lamp & work light
• Levelling plates

Control Systems

STH lathes come with a choice of control systems from Siemens, Fagor or Fanuc. We have chosen a Fanuc Oi-TF control package for our lathe, which includes servomotors, drivers and control software. Fanuc OI-TF is a precise Nano CNC system that allows exacting calculations and compatibility with cutting-edge servo technology.

• Contouring controls for high-speed, high precision machining.
• 8.4 inch colour display screen.
• Sensitive tolerance controls for smooth precision adjustments during machining.
• Smart overlap tool for shorter cycle times.

Reasons For The Investment

We are driven by our customers and this new addition to our workshop increases our capacity, performance and customer service, cutting lead times and increasing the scope of the machining we can offer. The new investment was made in response to a massive increase in demand and to deal with the upturn of orders from clients in the Oil & Gas sector, although the machine has wide applications for customers in every industry we serve. To find out more about our services and capabilities, please call us today on 

0845 5555 111

.

Over the past few months we have been working hard on getting our new website ready to launch. The current website has served us well but is showing its age. The last significant update took place in 2016 and didn’t go far enough to address its structural problems – the site was a good few years old even then.

For the new website we have updated both the design and content.

New Design

You’ll notice some big improvements in how the new website looks and feels:

• Mobile responsive design: View the new website on any size screen. The site is coded so it responds to the device you are using and looks good at all screen resolutions. (We are aware that the current website doesn’t look its best on small screens.)

• Intuitive navigation: Find all the information you need from an intuitive, easy-to-use navigation menu on the homepage.

• Fast loading: All the images, video and other content on the new site are optimised for web so they load quickly on any connection speed and device – no more waiting for pages to load.

• Easy contact: We have embedded a number of communication options into the new website to make it easy to get in touch with us by email, contact form or social media.

New Content

We have taken the opportunity to overhaul our website content. You can look forward to the following improvements:

• Better integration with blog: Previously our website and blog were only partially connected. The new site makes all the blog content directly accessible from the main website, as well as our YouTube videos, tweets and Facebook updates.

• New multimedia content: We’ve created new infographics, web pages, articles and explanatory videos specifically for the new site.

• More information: The new website includes updated service pages giving more information about what we offer and providing the means to find out more.

• Free downloadable content: Visitors now have the opportunity to download useful free resources from the website, including our e-book: Your Guide to Deep Hole Drilling, Boring & Honing Costs

Find Out More

For progress updates or to find out more about our services, please don’t hesitate to get in touch through our online contact form, or by calling 

0845 5555 111

.

The digital economy has made a lot of things easier, including communication and payments, but these changes have gone hand-in-hand with a heightened risk of fraud from cybercrime. Internet-based fraud can take many forms. As individuals, some of us have no doubt had ‘the phone call’ from our bank questioning our recent shopping spree in South Korea. Fortunately, personal losses are usually reimbursed quickly through the bank’s insurance scheme. Risks to businesses are more profound. Companies run the hazard not only of financial loss but also loss of reputation, which can be catastrophic.

HSBC and other banks have all issued warnings to their customers not to open scam emails masquerading as coming from an official source. Unfortunately, it isn’t only banks who are susceptible to such deception.

Some of our own customers have been the victim of attempted fraud through emails purporting to come from suppliers or clients. These frequently come from a trusted email address and contain subjects such as ‘purchase order’. We were recently caught out ourselves by a so-called phishing email. Thankfully it only ended up costing us £500 but it took six weeks and a multitude of e-mails and calls to get the rest of our money back.

To avoid the risk of clients being defrauded, should our email address be misappropriated, we have introduced the policy never to request money by email unless an official statement from Hone All is attached, or if we are already in conversation about a repayment plan.

How Are Emails Hacked?

Cyber criminals don’t use black magic to hack email accounts: There are several ways your account can be accessed fraudulently.

1) Insecure Passwords

Inadequate or insecure passwords are the cause of countless hacking incidents. A password that can be easily guessed is inherently insecure. These include the word ‘password’ itself, or passwords that include personal information that can easily be looked up. A person’s date of birth, mother’s maiden name, hometown and primary school can all be found through Facebook – depending on the person’s privacy settings. Generic security questions, such as ‘where did you go to university’ offer little or no protection against someone intent on resetting your password.

The near universal practice of using the same password for most, if not all, online accounts is also a recipe for disaster. Once one password is compromised, the rest can easily be guessed or reset.

A lot of email service providers are also less secure than they should be. Within the last 12 months Google, Yahoo and LinkedIn have all suffered loss of private data through email hacking. Some of this information, linking millions of names to email addresses and passwords, can be purchased on stolen databases available through the dark web.

We recommend a policy of regular password changes for work email addresses and the use of a reputable password manager app to keep track of multiple secure passwords.

2) Phishing Messages

Phishing messages include the classic message from your bank asking you to verify your password/pin number by email, but can also be more insidious. A fraudulent message apparently from Facebook could warn you of an attempted unauthorised access to your account: ‘follow this link to confirm your password’. In a heightened state of anxiety, these messages are very easy to fall for.

Most reputable businesses now operate a policy of never requesting money or personal information through email. Be sure to check the source of an email before you respond to any requests. Also, bear in mind that sometimes, the requests look like they’ve come from someone internally and request you to make a payment – again, prior to taking the requested action, check that they have indeed made the request, particularly if they request a same day payment to be made which are impossible to recall.

Bogus incentive messages can also be used to illegally harvest data or directly commit fraud. They often include a URL link through which a piece of malware is installed on the victim’s computer.

We have received several e-mails claiming to be from customers and suppliers with an e-mail address that looks the same and asks for us to open the remittance or purchase order etc. Again, these were found to contain malware and could have had serious consequences for our business and IT systems. Others looked like simple requests for Bank Details to be updated. We have now implemented a policy of calling to verify the request with the company contact personally prior to accepting any change requests.

One way to protect yourself from these types of e-mails, is to click reply and quite often, the reply e-mail address that comes up is different to the one listed in the original message so take a second to make this simple check.

3) Malware

Computer viruses, or malware, can install itself on a PC when someone opens an infected email attachment. Some of these viruses are worms, which automatically send out the same message to every contact in the person’s email address book. Such viruses can spread very quickly around the Internet. Other malware programs include key logging software; recording the keystrokes made on a computer to determine passwords, credit card details and other information.

Keep yourself safe from malware through a strong antivirus subscription and regular scheduled scans.

Keeping Safe Online

We are not IT experts by any means, but we are concerned for the security of our customers, suppliers, employees and website visitors. We take pains to apply cyber security best practices for emails, passwords, social media and web access to keep communications safe and ensure we are a partner our customers can trust. If you are concerned about an email that supposedly comes from us, please don’t hesitate to call us for clarification. Stay safe out there.

CNC honing, like mostcomputer-controlled processes in general, presents some significant advantages over conventional techniques:

• Consistent and repeatable accuracy and quality
• Very fine and exacting dimensions possible
• Surface finishes of 0,05μ
• Built-in metrology controls stock removal
• Ideal for components that require the highest possible level of precision

Features and capabilities vary from machine to machine but they all deliver hands-off honing to exceptional tolerances and the ability to sense and establish the dimensions of an environment such as a target bore.

The standout advantages of a CNC honing machine are the speed and ease of setting it up for a job, size accuracy and bore geometry control.

Typical industry-wide applications are where high bore geometric tolerance is critical, for example some bearings and valve components, fuel injectors and so on. Here at Hone-All it enables us to deliver exceptional quality and balance for the wide range of components we machine and industries we serve.

General Observations

Honing generally always follows an existing machined bore. However, you may have been told that straightness and cylindricity cannot be improved upon and this is certainly the case with standard tooling used for the majority of components but specialist tooling can be designed to overcome these parameters but at an increased cost which is not always a viable option with smaller batches.

The purpose of honing is a process intended to refine a surface in terms of any or all of:

• accuracy of size
• it’s geometric form
• apply a specified surface finish, such as cross hatching
• efficient plateau honing when double acting tooling is used

What it does mean is that the position of the bore will not change relative to the external dimensions when honing to a consistent size.

What The Process Entails

The operator enters data such as parameters and material of the workpiece, initial and desired diameter, finish required, bore length, sets starting positions for stroke and feed, and presses the Start button. The rest is automatically done by computer as it calculates the stroke rate, length and spindle speed. It can optionally adjust automatically for diamond wear after the size is proven to be correct.

Within the hone head, a coned shaft is driven by either electric or hydraulic power which actuates the cone shaft to linear movement. The stone set has corresponding cone angles and the core shaft expands or contracts when the shaft is pulled or pushed. Due to the slow angle of the cones, greater accuracy is achieved.

This is powered by a motor that dynamically positions the cone, which expands or contracts to control the diameter of the stone set. It executes bore size adjustments of sub-micron proportions.

The machine self-centres in the bore to begin exploring its environment vertically and horizontally. That way it “learns” it’s starting position in relation to the part’s position and dimensions. Then it expands the stones on the hone head and is ready to execute the honing under the control of the computer and guided by the parameters entered by the operator. The honing process deploys two forces on the part - hone rotation generates torque and the push-pull stroke action provides a lateral force. Together they abrade the surface which is constantly measured by the controlling computer.

The Bottom Line

CNC honing machines deliver consistent superb precision time after time. They require little supervision after the initial setup and can repeat a program identically time after time on similar parts that may have microscopic differences in diameter or present different taper characteristics, for example. There are always those rare applications where an old-fashioned manual machine and years of engineering experience will permit a more nuanced approach. But CNC honing is fast and precise - perfect for premium quality engineered parts.

Contact Us

Take the opportunity to contact us today for an informal initial chat about your particular requirement and scenario. We are always happy to consider new and challenging jobs and delivering customer satisfaction again and again is one of our greatest strengths.

Producing blind bores into precision machined components, and responsibly quoting for them, should always result in more questions for the customer. As much as time is short during our busy working days, and these queries often result in a little lost time, it’s always worth investigating at the design stage whether the form required suits the process needed to produce it or will require a non-standard tool.

Designers are often quick to add a “shoulder” type form at the bottom of the bore, referred to as a “flat bottom” but there is rarely a true requirement for this and the consequences can impact the competitiveness of the quotation both in terms of cost and lead time. 

Deep hole drilling and deep hole boring to a depth creates what is referred to as a “w form” as standard. In some cases, another bore will be breaking through into the initial blind bore causing most of the w form to be lost and leaving a step either side. However, when there is a single-blind bore, it is unusual for the w form to really make a positive impact to the design unless a mating part or seal is going within the bore which needs to fit or hit onto a straight surface. There are of course legitimate reasons for the requirement of specially formed bores, sometimes for strength or lightness, and other applications we’ve mentioned, but it is worth noting that most forms can be produced but at a detrimental effect to the cost and lead time.

Why Choose Hone-All?

Here at Hone-All, we specialise in not only producing precision machined components up to 3 metres long but also, we work hard to ensure our customers are receiving great service alongside achieving the very best value for money too. We want our customers to win the work they are quoting as consequently, we then aim to win that work from them resulting in profitable growth for both parties.  

Therefore, we will always try and take a little extra time to ascertain whether a special or flat bottom form is truly necessary.

How Does A Flat Bottom/Special Form Impact Your Quotation? 

It is worth considering when designing engineering parts that the form on the base of bores are expensive to produce, and often, a standard 59° angle is drawn which is difficult to produce with gun drilling and a great deal harder with the deep hole boring process. Often specialist tooling needs to be designed and manufactured in the case of Deep Hole Boring or 2nd operation form grinding for the Gundrilling operation.

At Hone-All, we always ensure that any standard tooling is quoted within your unit price so there are no unexpected costs. However, in the case of special form drills or tools, we highlight these as an extra item so that the customer can make an informed choice as to whether they require the specific form they’ve drawn. To give an indication, within the gun drilling range of ø3-ø28mm diameter, you can add approximately £85 to £300 (depending on diameter) for a gundrill supplied with a D4 nose grind. A further £50 would be added for a special form depending on the complexity of the form itself. The longevity of the gundrill life will also be shortened as it will require being re-ground periodically to ensure sharpness of the cutting process. 

Flat bottom forms also impact the cost as to form this base, we must grind away 30% of the tip to create the flat bottom form. This also means that the drill cannot be re-used for anything other than us being asked to repeat the creation of the exact same size diameter flat bottom form, a rarity in our industry. 

Using a deep hole boring head, say up to ø60mm, to create a flat bottom, a specialist head would have to be ordered at a cost of approximately £100. Other specialist forms can be produced but could add anywhere up to £500 to the cost – and again, are rarely re-useable. 

In addition to these serious cost implications, which are often prohibitive to the competitive price being expected, these add from a week to 4 weeks of lead time to the quotation impacting the speed of turnaround we can offer. 

With cost and delivery being at the forefront of competitive manufacturing, these issues can be the difference between being successful in quoting and not. 

How To End The Bottom Discussions?

To avoid these complications, always ask your designer or CAD engineers to consider what purpose the form at the base of the bore will fulfil. 

Is It Really Needed?

If there is no design feature, element or mating part requiring meeting with the base, then please consider asking them to re-draw using the industry standard “w” form achieved with standard tooling or an additional note to state that the form is to “suit the method of manufacture”. 

This will save queries, time, tooling and lead time for all parties concerned.

Hone-All are your marvellous partner for deep hole boring and drilling. Don’t forget to download our Guide to Quoting on Deep Hole Boring which covers more features about how to ensure you get what you really need from your supplier and avoid unnecessary costs. Also, for more information on deep hole drilling and boring, check out our website - hone-all.co.uk.

Gundrilling (alternatively called Deep Hole Drilling) is a reliable method used to make precision holes in a wide range of metal and plastic components.  The method is known for its efficiency in creating perfectly round drilled holes and straight drill channels. However, sometimes mistakes are made with gundrilling that affects the final accuracy of the result.

These are the most common ones to be aware of:

1) Using The Wrong Nose Grind Geometry

Standard gundrill tips utilise an N8 nose grind, with an R1 relief. These have an inner angle of 20°, with a 25° dub off and a 30° outer angle. Nose grind is important because it affects how swarf chips are formed, the finish of the drilled hole and coolant flow. Using the wrong nose grind may result in pressure build up, erratic flow rate and an unsatisfactory finish. N8 nose grinds are great for some materials – such as nickel alloys or stainless steel, but can be problematic when working with brass or aluminium. With these metals you should try an N4 nose grind with an R4 relief. These have the same inner angle and dub off of the N8, but have a shallower outer angle of only 15°.

2) Tip Selection

Drill tips can have one or two holes depending on the diameter of the gundrill and come in a variety of materials and forms. Choosing the wrong tip or drill grind for your application can lead quality issues and / or a build-up of swarf in the bore causing blockages and excess pressure. 

3) Guide Hole

If no dedicated gundrilling machine is available, you can use a CNC lathe to carry out the operation, but the speed bit system requires you to drill a start hole first to ensure the gundrill has an accurate starting point. This needs to be at just the right depth, tightness and straightness – within the tolerances of the gundrill diameter. However, getting the start hole wrong will cause you issues. Be conservative when planning your start hole parameters. Defining the specs too tightly may give you insufficient room to manoeuvre when making the main cut, especially when using small drill bits.

4) How Much Pressure?

Your goal should be a steady coolant stream, not a rush or dribble! The smaller your drill bits, the higher psi you will need to apply to achieve this. A very common mistake is not applying the correct pressure. Too much and you risk damage to the drill. Too little and you compromise the quality of your result.

High Quality Gundrilling Solutions From Hone-All Precision

We specialise in a range of gun drilling and other CNC solutions for precision parts used in many different industries. Chat with us about your project requirements and ensure your drilling is carried out quickly and with precision accuracy. You can request a quote online by filling in our online contact form. Alternatively, you can chat one of our team by calling 0845 5555 111.

Honing is one of those subcontract services which often suffers an unfairly bad reputation!

Covered in the apprenticeships of old, it's always the honing machines that bring either the wry smile or comical grimace when people visit as if they were lucky enough to go through a full apprenticeship it was either one of their favourites or the hated machine that just “had to be used to pass the exam”.

There are a number of reasons why honing suffers and these vary greatly including:-

• Cost - customers can often feel it's an expensive process simply because they are requesting honing when they haven’t been able to achieve the specified bore tolerance through machining and didn’t allow for any honing costs so any cost, irrespective of how good value it is, is eating into their margins.

• Delivery - it is often difficult to explain the time frames required to hone out a large amount of stock from a bore. This is not because the honing process is necessarily always slow (although some bores and tolerances do require extremely careful handling) but often it’s for the simple reason that when very large amounts of stock need to be removed, the process needs to be carried out in a number of stages in order to let the material cool and normalise before commencing the operation again. This will increase cycle times which in turn will increase the price leading to further claims that the process can seem expensive at times. To overcome large amounts of material left in the bores, we can offer to single point bore depending on the size and length of the parts. Alternatively, we can offer to skive through the bore of long cylindrical parts up to 3000mm long and then finish hone them. If honing is the only option, this can be done but it may not be very economical and if at all possible we would ask that you call us prior to machining so that we can advise on a stock removal level which would be appropriate for that particular component. This not only reduces the cost for the customer but also reduces lead time. As a result, they will win more work, be more successful and we all experience a positive impact.

• Quality - sometimes, the teams within the quality departments we work with haven’t seen or experienced honing and therefore they are not aware of exactly what honing can and can’t achieve.

So What Is Honing & What Can It Do For You?

Internal honing is the removal of material from a round bore using tools with abrasive stones which expand under pressure to cut and is used for the following purposes:-

• To achieve tighter tolerances than can be achieved with conventional machining methods or tooling.

• To improve Surface Finish to ensure smooth fits with mating parts or reduce wear or in some cases, to roughen a surface finish depending on the application i.e. creating cross hatch finishes for oil retention.

• To alter the size of the bore when design changes have been made or requested.

Factors that can affect the quality of a honed bore are:-

• Temperature - hence the requirement to allow the component to normalise @20°c.

• Parallelism & Roundness from prior machining.

• Gauging selected and accuracy of the setting and measurement.

Gauging is sometimes a difficult factor as smaller batch quantities do not always justify or allow the expense of the perfect gauging and customers may have to make do with what they have. For example, some components require air gauging but this can cost £400-£500 and therefore the customer cannot supply this for an order of £100.

Obviously, here at Hone-All, we have built a large stock and variety of gauging over the years but it’s almost impossible to cover every size due to the small increments the gauges are sold in!

Blind Bores

Blind bores are another reason for honing getting an unfair reputation at times. Despite most honing specialists making the limitations of honing tooling quite clear to customers on their quotations and stating that the tool cannot reach the full depth of the bore, this information is often not picked up by the customer on the quote and therefore they can sometimes feel that we have not completed the part to drawing.

Components with tight tolerance or high surface finish blind bores could be designed with a relief in the bottom of the bore. The length / depth of the relief is relative to the bore size but as a general guide, 5mm relief on a 50mm bore, 10mm on a 100mm bore would be sensible (and highly desired!) to prevent this occurrence.

What Honing Cannot Do!

Another reason we honing companies may suffer can be due to a lack of knowledge by the customer of the honing process. One customer of ours had raised over 30 NCR’s against us (without forwarding them so we were unaware) simply because the parts did not meet the concentricity limits.

If we had machined the parts, we would accept the NCR’s, investigate and find the cause. However, we were only honing the parts and the one thing honing cannot affect is the concentricity of the bore to the outside diameter. We can only follow the existing bore and if required, this would need to be cylindrically or jig ground to correct.

And the final factor which may impact quality is indeed, the operator. However, with over 40 years of experience within this field, our engineers are highly skilled and fully trained and that’s why we would always recommend speaking to our honing specialists to discuss your requirements at the earliest possible stage.

That’s why we have written this guide.

We hope that the information within it will not only educate and raise awareness of the black art of honing but also enable our customers to understand the time frames, the skill, the requirements and limitations of the honing process.

About Hone All

At Hone All Precision we are a family run engineering firm with extensive experience serving clients in the petrochemical, medical, packaging, printing, aerospace, motorsport, hydraulics and automotive manufacturing sectors. Our full range of services are carried out in-house at our Leighton Buzzard (UK) workshop by a team of experienced, qualified CNC engineers. If you’d like to chat with one of our engineers about a project you’re working on, or request a bespoke quote, please call us on 0845 5555 111 or 01525 370666.

Feel free to contact us and speak with an expert even if it is before you’ve commenced the design process as we are happy and willing to pass on our experience and knowledge to save time, money, frustration and benefit not just our customers but our competitors too.

Gundrilling refers to a process of drilling deep, precise holes in many different materials, from super alloys to aluminium. The key elements to deep hole drilling methods are tight diameter control, good finish, and straightness. 

Deep hole drilling is used across many industries and for a variety of applications, such as armaments, oil and gas exploration equipment, engines, and aerospace equipment being the most common applications for deep hole drilling. In every industry, accurate bore quality is necessary for the proper performance of the end product, for example, a landing gear should easily retract. That's why deep hole drilling should be accurate, time-efficient, and reliable. Wall thickness is one of the indicators of quality and its consistency is vital. 

Understanding Uncertainty

One of the key things you should know about gundrilling is that it can be quite unpredictable. For example, no handbook will tell you the optimal speed or feed rate as materials differ in characteristics even when of an expected standard and drill tip wear or oil pressure can impact the effectiveness of the speeds and feeds selected.  Instead, the way to choose the right parameters for different materials is for an experienced operator to use conservative parameters and then slowly increase them to the extent the material permits.

In addition, it can be hard to predict the position of the hole. The fact is, even a shallow hole right in the centre can have a measurable amount of straightness error and the length of a gundrill can exaggerate the error. For example, if you have a drill with an L:D ratio of 50, you might have an exit point landing anywhere within an area several times larger than the size of the cross-sectional area of the drill. 

Another underappreciated factor is the difficulty that different materials can present. For example, softer materials can be hard to drill because chips will clog the oil feed hole. Hard materials are challenging as well due to tip or tool wear. In this case, only years of training and experience will help you achieve minimal drill wander and wall thickness consistency.

Special Equipment To Measure Wall Thickness

You can drill a hole and machine the outside for a consistent wall thickness. If the drill wanders, it will cause wall thickness inconsistency between the two ends. It's important to monitor the position of the drilled hole using special equipment to effectively measure the wander and then implement the required measure to correct it. 

On through bores, this simply involes turning the billet between centres and removing the material from the relevant ends to bring the bar back to true. 

On blind bores, the best method is to use a special ultrasonic device to measure the wall thickness by placing an ultrasonic device at different spots around shaft. Measurements with these devices are accurate and you will be sure to identify the end point of the gundrilled hole. These measurements are then used to off-set the billet when set on a lathe the error is turned off the outside diameter leaving the bore to outside diameter tolerance back within microns. 

This is one of the reasons we always recommend that the customer starts with oversize material and machines all further detail from the bore produced or indeed, asks us to do this for them. This guarantees a clean up situation and that the billet will be suitable for any and all future applications. 

More Information

The only certain way to ensure wall thickness consistency is to get professionals to do the job. Contact our team at Hone-All Precision today to get a free quote. You should also take a look at our free ebooks, which examine different aspects of CNC machining, drilling and honing from a buyer’s perspective.

Click here to download The Guide To Deep Hole Drilling, Boring & Honing

Click here to download The Industrial Rollers Guide

A deep hole is defined by the depth-to-diameter ratio and every hole larger than a ratio of 10:1 is considered deep. There are lots of applications for deep hole drilling across many industries, with the origins tracing back to gun barrels. Deep hole drilling is used in different materials and can help achieve a tight diameter, straightness, and a perfect surface finish.

Deep hole drilling is done on special deep hole drilling machines, which are assembled to ensure efficiency, straightness, and precise drilling. Modern technology allows for gundrilling of small diameter holes over long lengths.

However, drilling a straight hole and exactly where you need it isn't always easy. A drill can be difficult to control while maintaining accuracy, especially when particularly deep holes are required. Luckily, there are proven techniques and reliable equipment now available to ensure engineers achieve a precise result.

Find The Centre And Drill On Target

Position is everything – on or off centre, accuracy at the start improves the quality of the entire process.

To assist, there are centring tools and fixtures that can help when setting the machine. Self-centring bits help centre the bit in the machined hole by guiding the tool to the correct location but it can be as easy as simply marking with a cross!

Contra-Rotation

After ensuring the most accurate start point for drilling, the most accurate way of minimising drill wander is to contra-rotate the component. This means that the part will be rotating one way when held in the chuck and the gundrilling tool will be rotated in the opposite direction ensuring that the opposing forces come together to create a bore as straight as possible. In some cases, i.e. in block or PCD work, this is not always possible and therefore the standard industry parameters for deep hole drilling will always be quoted. These are 1mm of wander for every 1 metre drilling or 0.001” per 1” drilled. This means that if set correctly, your start hole will be perfectly accurate, the hole will be dead straight but the exit point will be at worst, 1mm off centre in a 1 metre long component. Gundrilling cannot create a bent hole, this is a common misconception. However, the hole can wander off centre from the original start line.

Clear The Swarf Often

How the swarf chips and the effectiveness of its removal can also cause a drill to wander, which can result in oversized holes or even broken drills. The tips and / or the swarf can get trapped in the bore or twisted around the drill and you will have to spend lots of time clearing it. To avoid this, an engineer should watch the swarf carefully and based on its characteristics, adjust the feeds and speeds to improve the chipping effect.

The Hardening Effect When Drilling Stainless Steel

When drilling certain steels, the work hardening effect can also cause problems. This is when the steel slowly hardens as it is cold worked, causing the drill to wander or even cause excessive wear on the tip resulting in the creation of an oversize bore.

During deep drilling, it's vital to maintain the feed to easily cut through the steel's hardened layer. If you have to re-enter the hole after backing out, always do it at a full feed rate and speed. However, if you need to make sure the feed rate is maintained, reduce the tool speed.

Deep Hole Boring & Drilling Experts

Deep hole boring takes a precise approach to ensure you get the result you need, first time. Its worthwhile shopping around for an expert business – such as our Hone All team – with extensive experience of deep hole drilling for a range of clients in different sectors. For a free quote, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by phone on 0845 5555 111.

You can also download our free Guide To Deep Hole Drilling, Boring & Honing Costs; a concise, free guide that explains how jobs are quoted and how to get the best value. Access your copy by clicking here.

We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who was able to join us at the SPE Offshore Europe Exhibition in Aberdeen two weeks ago. It was great to renew old acquaintances and make some new contacts, and we have been busily following up leads and opportunities made at the exhibition. If you were at the exhibition but didn’t get a chance to chat, please accept our apologies. Do give us a call and it will be good to catch up in person either at our offices or at one of the trade exhibitions next year. The exhibition was a busy few days with some fantastic exhibitors and in most cases, an upbeat perspective on the future.

A Proactive Attitude To Global Challenges

The overall message we took home from Offshore this year was: yes, things have been tough out there for the oil and gas industry, but there are some great new technologies, new start-up businesses and  new talent coming on board that are even now providing tomorrow’s solutions to whenever problems come up. The reduction in oil prices has been a severe blow for a lot of businesses, but the positive is that in some cases, this has spurred productivity and innovation in new areas, as businesses have been forced to think outside the box to maintain their profits. The cautious optimism was clear from most people we spoke with, especially in relation to a more consistent barrel price and hoping this leads to a more stable market for the future.

Confronting Cyber Threats

It was also good to see the cybercrime threat to the oil and gas sector being tackled head-on at the exhibition. Cyber-attacks have increased in both severity and regularity over the past 12 months, causing malicious damage not only to infrastructure and businesses, but also to the environment and worker’s lives. It was great to hear about a range of new cyber security solutions from leading researchers in the industry.

Improved Decommissioning Technologies

Another highlight for us was the ‘Decommissioning Zone’ themed exhibition, showcasing a range of new decommissioning technologies and practices. As these become more widely implemented in the industry over the coming years, the monetary and time savings are sure to open up new opportunities for innovation and inward investment in other areas.

SPE Offshore Europe in Aberdeen bought our exhibition season to a close for this year. We look forward to taking part as exhibitors again next year, so keep checking back on this blog for regular updates.

Deep Hole Drilling, Boring & Honing Services From Hone All

To find out more about our services and how we can help your business, please get in touch with one of our team for a chat today. You can call us on 0845 5555 111, or send us a message through our online contact form. We also have a free e-book you can download. The Guide to Deep Hole Drilling, Boring & Honing Costs explains the factors that affect cost and quality, as well as the causes behind common mechanical problems. Claim your copy today by clicking here.

At Hone All Precision we provide a dynamic balancing service as part of the roller manufacturing services we offer our customers. Dynamic balancing is an important and frequently misunderstood part of the process, so we would like to spend this article briefly outlining what is involved and when you might need it.

What Is Dynamic Balancing?

Dynamic balancing uses purpose designed equipment to analyse the rotational speed and vibration level of an industrial roller. These measurements are compared to the desired operational parameters and changes made to the roller so that it is optimised to perform as expected.

A ‘balanced’ roller is one that can operate at any line speed, smoothly and without vibrations. Any roller can be balanced using the right equipment, with larger machines being used for larger rollers.

Types Of Roller Balancing

Dynamic balancing is one of two types of balancing service, the other being static balancing. The two approaches are used for different reasons. Static balancing takes place when the roller is stationary and is designed to address errors leading to rollover and loping. Dynamic balancing, on the other hand, takes place while the roller is working at its full operational line speed. The process quickly picks up signs that could point to major errors, such as excessive heat wastage, variable speeds or high vibration levels. If left unaddressed, these factors could seriously impact the application and lead to mechanical faults.

When Is Dynamic Balancing Needed?

For many manufacturers, dynamic balancing forms part of the inspection process at the final stage of manufacture. Older rollers can also be subjected to dynamic balancing to address any issues and refurbish. Also, some companies opt for a third party dynamic balancing service when they have purchased cheaper industrial rollers from a supplier overseas, to double check their quality and fitness for purpose. You should also consider dynamic balancing when re-covering a rubber coated roller. Packaging rollers are always balanced at their original weight, so when a new urethane coating is added, they should be rebalanced to operate correctly at line speed with their new weight.

Essentially, dynamic balancing is a fault fixing service and not a routine inspection. High quality rollers do not normally need dynamic balancing. Complete and accurate design drawings and a pre-balancing process normally ensure that rollers perform as expected. Furthermore, high quality rollers will maintain their performance over time, without the need for correction.

We only need to undertake dynamic balancing on about 5% of our precision rollers, but we do offer the service on request and have all the equipment on site to carry out a thorough job.

How It Works

Dynamic balancing takes place within a large balancing roller, linked to a balancing unit display screen. The roller is digitally scanned to show the precise angles and weights that cause the imbalance. Photocells in the balancing machine allow accurate measurements to be made at any line speed. From this data, simulations can be run that show the exact adjustments that need to be made for the roller to meet customer specifications. These new parameters can then be programmed into the balancing machine and the changes carried out under computer guidance, resulting in a rebalanced and extremely accurate roller.

Your Questions About Industrial Rollers Answered

Choosing the right industrial roller for your application is crucial to getting the results you need. Find out more about the process of sourcing industrial rollers in our Industrial Rollers Guide. This new, free e-book contains all you need to know about the process, including selecting the right materials, specs and performance criteria for your rollers. Click here to download your copy.